Transcending Paragon (New)

Yo, at the moment, I'm struggling on how to write but I swear I'll keep you guys updated. 

I might skip a few things since y'all don't need to know every detail since you know Arifureta right?

Anyway, I'll skip minor details but will keep the important ones. 

That aside, I hope you enjoy it. Peace.

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Hajime's body ached with every step, his torn and bloodied form barely holding together as he trudged through the darkness of the labyrinth. His once gentle and optimistic heart had been shattered, replaced by something far colder—something forged in the depths of betrayal, suffering, and survival. 

When he had been pushed into the abyss, his body was crushed, broken, and torn apart. But worse than the pain was the realization that no one was coming to save him. They had left him for dead. 

At first, he screamed. Begged. Cursed the ones who had done this to him. Why? Why did this happen to him? 

Then, hunger and desperation set in. He clung to life, consuming whatever he could to survive, even as his body twisted and changed. The weak-willed, kind-hearted boy he once was… had died in the darkness. 

What remained was a monster willing to do anything to climb back up. 

As he moved through the labyrinth, his mind drifted to one person—Tenya Shindo. 

"Shindo-san… is he still alive?" 

Deep down, he knew the answer. Of course, he was. Unlike Hajime, Caelum had always been strong. He had a combat-oriented job, one that made him a force to be reckoned with. Hajime clenched his fists, feeling the raw power surging through his mutated body. 

"I was weak before, but not anymore. If Shindo-san is still alive… I wonder if he'll even recognize me." 

He no longer cared about anything—his classmates, his old world, even the gods who toyed with their lives. The only thing that mattered was survival. 

When Hajime finally arrived at the throne room, a magic circle activated, and before him stood a man—no, a memory given form. 

Oscar Orcus. The creator of this labyrinth. 

Hajime listened in silence as the figure spoke of the Liberators, of their war against Ehit, of the divine chains that shackled this world. 

None of it mattered to him. 

Gods? Fate? A greater battle for the world? 

He had lost his innocence the moment he was thrown away like trash. He had only one goal—to go home. 

And if it meant killing a god to do so… 

Then he would drown the world in blood.

After receiving Creation Magic from Oscar, Hajime pressed forward, eventually arriving in what seemed to be a safe area. He narrowed his eyes. 

Was this real? An illusion? A trap? 

The instincts he had honed through pain and blood screamed at him to stay alert. But all doubts vanished when a familiar voice echoed through the air. 

"Took you long enough." 

Hajime's breath hitched. He turned his head sharply, his single crimson eye locking onto the figure standing before him. 

Caelum. 

He looked strong—far stronger than Hajime remembered. His slightly tanned skin, his sharp, piercing gaze, and his long hair tied in a ponytail while his bangs and side locks remained—it was unmistakably him. 

The sight made Hajime's chest tighten. Shindo… is alive? 

"S-Shindo! Y-you're alive!" 

His voice wavered, disbelief laced in every word. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, something inside him stirred—a remnant of his old self. 

Caelum smiled, stepping closer, and Hajime could see the warmth in his expression. A brotherly warmth. Caelum had always been someone who looked after others—including him. 

"Hajime! I'm glad you're alive! I knew you'd make it out." 

Before Hajime could react, Caelum pulled him into a hug—firm, strong, reassuring. 

For a moment, Hajime froze. He wasn't used to this anymore. The warmth of another human, the feeling of someone being genuinely happy to see him—it was foreign. 

Yet, despite himself, he didn't pull away. 

He let himself sink into the moment, allowing the embrace to remind him of a time before all of this—before the pain, before the betrayal, before the monster he had become. 

When they finally pulled away, Hajime met Caelum's gaze, and for the first time since falling into the abyss… 

He didn't feel alone.

Caelum crossed his arms, smirking as he looked Hajime up and down. 

"Man, you changed a lot. From a wimpy baby boy to a full-blown Edge Lord." 

Hajime twitched at the comment. Why did he have to say it like that? But instead of snapping back, he found himself grinning. 

"Yeah, well, you're still the same snarky bastard I knew." 

Caelum chuckled. 

"Damn right. And I bet you've got a lot of questions." He gave Hajime a once-over before dramatically waving his hand in front of his nose. 

"But first, let's get you patched up. And for the love of all things holy, take a bath, dude. You stink like hell." 

Hajime's remaining eye twitched.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had the luxury of hot showers while surviving off monster meat and pain." 

Caelum just laughed, patting his shoulder. 

"Excuses, excuses." 

Before Hajime could retaliate, a soft voice cut in. 

"Who is this, Shindo?" 

Hajime turned, finally noticing the small blonde girl standing beside Caelum, gazing at him with quiet curiosity. 

His eye narrowed. 

"And who exactly is this?" 

Caelum's smirk widened. 

"This is Yue. My lover." 

There was a long, heavy pause. 

Then Hajime took a step back, face blank. 

"…Do I need to call the FBI?" 

Caelum groaned, facepalming, while Yue tilted her head in confusion. 

"What is FBI?" 

"This dumbass," Caelum muttered before shaking his head with a chuckle. 

"Ignore him, Yue." 

Hajime sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Of course. Of course, the first thing I see after surviving hell is you somehow getting a girlfriend." 

"Jealous?" Caelum teased. 

"Shut up." 

Caelum laughed, then gestured toward the manor. 

"Come on, let's get inside before you drop dead." 

Hajime rolled his eye. 

"Lead the way, oh great Chick Magnet." 

And with that, the three of them headed into the manor, their banter filling the underground haven.

Caelum gestured toward Yue. 

"As I said before, this is Yue, my lover. Yue, this is Nagumo Hajime—my unlucky classmate and self-proclaimed edgelord." 

Hajime rolled his eye. 

"What do you mean Self-proclaimed? I literally got thrown into hell." 

Caelum shrugged. 

"Yeah, yeah, tragic backstory and all that. Anyway, Yue, try not to let his brooding rub off on you." 

Yue blinked, looking between the two of them before giving a small nod. 

"Understood." 

Hajime groaned. 

"Great, now you've got her in on it." 

Caelum smirked. 

"Anyway, come on, Mr. Walking Disaster. You need a bath." 

They arrived at the bathroom, and Caelum stopped in front of the door. 

"Alright, here's the deal. Get in, scrub off the suffering, and put on the clean clothes inside. I'll be outside. Try not to drown in your own filth." 

Hajime huffed. 

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be sure to emerge sparkling clean, just for you." 

Caelum clapped a hand on his shoulder. 

"Good. I wouldn't want Yue thinking all Japanese men smell like blood, sweat, and bad life choices." 

Hajime muttered something under his breath as he stepped inside, while Caelum grinned and walked off, waiting outside for his friend to finish.

Hajime stepped out, feeling like a new man after washing off the grime and blood. He stretched, rolling his shoulder, only to hear— 

"Wow, you actually clean up nice. I was worried I'd have to start calling you Sewer Lord instead of Edge Lord." 

Hajime sighed, running a hand through his now-white hair.

"And here I was, thinking I'd finally get a moment of peace. Should've known you'd still be an ass." 

Caelum grinned. 

"It's part of my charm." 

Hajime crossed his arms. 

"Yeah? Well, I missed your charming self about as much as I miss my arm." 

Caelum snickered. 

"Good thing I'm working on fixing one of those problems." 

Hajime raised a brow.

"Wait, what?" 

Caelum gestured to the table, where various tools and metal components were laid out. 

"I'm using Creation Magic to make you a brand-new arm." 

Hajime's eye widened as he stepped closer.

"You're transmuting? But you don't have the Synergist job." 

Caelum shrugged. 

"Yeah, well, I don't have the same limitations as normal people. But I'm still missing a few skills that would make this easier." He smirked. 

"So, congrats, Hajime! You get to be my assistant." 

Hajime scoffed. 

"Assistant? Buddy, you're the sidekick here. I'm the one who lost the arm." 

Caelum smirked.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep talking and I might just make it so your new arm only gives out high-fives." 

Hajime rolled his eye. 

"Fine, fine. Let's get this over with." 

The two worked together, combining their skills. With Hajime's expertise in transmutation and Caelum's ridiculous comprehension abilities, they soon created a sleek, powerful mechanical arm. 

Hajime flexed his fingers, testing the movement. The metal shifted smoothly, responding like it was his real limb. He clenched his fist—and punched the ground, causing cracks to spread outward. 

"…Whoa." Hajime grinned, a spark of excitement in his eye. 

"This is way better than I expected." 

Caelum smirked. 

"Of course it is. I helped make it." 

Hajime shook his head, still flexing his new fingers. 

"Gotta admit… it feels like I never lost it." 

Caelum patted his shoulder. 

"Good. Now that we've got that fixed, how about we get started on making you some actual weapons?" 

Hajime grinned, rolling his new shoulder. 

"Hell yeah. Let's do this."

As they worked, Hajime couldn't help but glance at Caelum, watching him transmute materials with an almost unnatural level of precision. 

"Seriously," Hajime muttered, narrowing his eyes. 

"How the hell are you this good? You don't even have the Synergist job." 

Caelum smirked, not looking up from his work. 

"Talent, brains, and overwhelming charisma. Unlike you, I wasn't a nerd before getting thrown into this dungeon." 

Hajime scoffed. 

"Says the guy who's literally engineering a custom weapon right now. Face it, you're as much of a nerd as I am." 

Caelum chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. But at least I don't monologue about how 'weakness is death' like a second-rate anime villain." 

Hajime groaned.

"I do not—" 

Caelum cut him off. 

"Weakness is death! Only the strong survive!" he mimicked, dramatically gripping an imaginary gun. 

Hajime sighed.

"I hate you." 

"You love me." 

"Shut up." 

Despite their bickering, the two made great progress. Caelum suggested an improvement to Hajime's firearm—rather than just a gun, it should have a blade attached to the barrel for close-quarters combat. 

"That way." Caelum explained, adjusting the weapon's frame.

"You won't be completely screwed if you run out of ammo or mana." 

Hajime inspected the design. 

"Huh. Not a bad idea." Caelum smirked. 

"I do have my moments." Hajime rolled his eye.

"Shame they're so rare." Caelum flicked a spare screw at him. 

"Just shut up and help me finish this, Edge Lord." 

Hajime chuckled as they got back to work, the two continuing to fine-tune their weapons while throwing snarky remarks back and forth.

With their work finally completed, Hajime took the weapon for a test run. Aiming at a sturdy rock formation, he fired off a few rounds before swinging the blade attachment, slicing through the weakened stone with absolute ease. The impact sent a satisfying crack echoing through the cavern. 

Caelum smirked, clapping his hands. 

"Damn, we're good." 

Hajime rolled his eye but couldn't hide the small grin on his face.

"Not bad. Could use some fine-tuning, but yeah, this'll do." 

"Of course, it's good. I helped make it." 

Hajime groaned. 

"Here we go again…" 

Deciding to call it a day, the two returned to the manor for dinner. As they ate, Hajime couldn't help but feel awkward watching Caelum casually flirt with Yue. 

At one point, Caelum leaned toward Yue, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

"You're cute when you're eating, you know that?" 

Yue blinked, swallowing her food. 

"Mn. Do you like watching me eat?" 

Caelum smirked. 

"I like watching you do a lot of things." 

Yue's golden eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of amusement in them. 

"Like what?" 

Hajime nearly choked on his food. 

"Okay, I really don't need to be here for this." 

Caelum turned to him, smirking. 

"Aww, don't be jealous, Hajime. You've got Kaori waiting for you, remember?" 

Hajime's face turned red at the mention of Kaori. 

"W-What are you even talking about?! She doesn't like me that way!" 

Caelum grinned, leaning back. 

"Oh, please. That girl practically worships the ground you walk on." 

Still blushing, Hajime glared at him and muttered

"At least I'm not a lolicon." 

Caelum groaned, rolling his eyes. 

"For the last time, Yue is hundreds of years old. She's a legal loli!" 

Hajime snorted. 

"Still sounds sketchy. You're coping?" 

Yue, who had been listening quietly, tilted her head. 

"What's a lolicon?" 

Caelum smirked.

"Nothing important. Just ignore Hajime's virgin ass." 

Hajime twitched.

"Oh, screw you." 

Yue, still confused, simply shrugged and returned to eating, while Hajime and Caelum continued to bicker, their usual brotherly banter filling the room.